Origins
by Ember Rock
Summary: There's a reason why you leave the past behind you and don't look back. You don't want to remember the only one that cared turning into a monster. You don't want to remember the way he treated you.


Sonic's past leaves a lot to be desired. This is just my theory, and in no way official.

**:::Chapter 1: Trials:::**

X-X-X

The traffic was murder this early in the morning, and a road accident didn't help. He was surrounded, and boldly stepped out of his car to have a look at the accident for himself. A couple of people stared at him, but he was used to it. An overall weight of two hundred kilograms, bald head and eyebrows along with a moustache that would put a broom to shame generally got that effect. It didn't help that he was strolling down the freeway as if it was the most normal thing in the world. He stared down passersby, and walked to the circle of police cars only a hundred metres away. The sun was shining, and as frustrating as the traffic hold-up was, Doctor Ivo Robotnik felt that today was going to be a good day.

'Good morning, officers,' he greeted, before pushing through the small force of police.

'Morning, doctor. You might want to take a look at this,' the chief said to him, indicating a little blue ball of fluff about a foot tall just sitting in the centre of the road. He looked up with large, bright green eyes, tracing a shape in the air with his stubby finger. He gurgled, before frowning at one of the officers. 'Goway. G'way!'

The doctor raised his eyebrows. 'A hedgehog?'

'It does appear to be. We think someone's dyed its fur as a prank, and left it here. What do we do with it? The pound?' the chief asked him, seeming to be oblivious to the words that the baby animal was forming.

_If it can speak…then it must be special. This is just too rarer opportunity to pass up. _'No, I'll take it.'

The chief smiled in relief. 'Always, the good Samaritan, eh, doctor? Thanks for that.'

Ivo scooped up the small baby before returning to his car. It was some time after that before the traffic had cleared, but it was all the more time to study the baby. It was staring, face screwed up in concentration, at the light on the roof of the car. The doctor raised his eyebrows slightly, before opening his door and slamming it shut. The light switched off, and the baby looked at him in an annoyed way.

'Pu' it back,' he demanded. The doctor shook his head, a warm smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

The rest of the drive was rather uneventful, and the baby stayed quiet from then on. But it was getting agitated, and Robotnik wasn't sure whether that was from the lack of stimulation, or something else. A thunderous grumble from the back seat confirmed his suspicions.

'Don't worry, we'll be home soon,' he assured, observing the child through the rear view mirror. It narrowed its eyes, incredibly expressive for its young age.

X-X-X

Ivo sat the cerulean baby on the couch, plonking himself down next to it.

'So, do you have any parents?' he tentatively asked, wondering how much the baby could comprehend.

'No,' the baby replied, a curious look on his features.

'What happened to them?'

'Wha?'

'Your mummy and daddy. What happened to them?'

'I d'nno. Bu', tha' was before. Is now, now,' he said, struggling with the words.

The doctor smiled. 'That's a smart little philosophy you got there, kid. Who taught you that?'

The baby proudly whacked itself over the chest with hands that were disproportionately large to the rest of him, causing him to emit a little cough. 'I did!'

He nodded. 'Well, you're a very smart kid then. From now on, I'm your daddy. I'll take care of you.'

The baby's mouth widened into a happy sort of laugh. 'Thank 'ou, daddy!'

Robotnik pushed himself up to fetch some chilled water from the refrigerator. He turned back to the blue ball of quills, exploring the couch unsteadily. 'Hey, kid! Do you have a name?'

The baby thought for a couple of seconds, an ever-so-cute look of concentration and confusion on its face. 'Well...they cal' me Sonic.'

X-X-X

A few hours later and Robotnik was up and running tests on the child, clipboard in hand.

'Alright, Sonic, do you know how old you are?'

Sonic looked at his chubby fingers, before holding up five of them.

'Five?'

The baby shook his head. 'No!' He took down one finger.

'That's four,' Robotnik said kindly.

He took down another.

'Three.'

Sonic took down one last finger, before shouting, 'Two!'

'Very good!' the doctor laughed, scribbling down some notes. 'And can you walk?'

Sonic nodded, and jumped off the couch. He walked along, and although he was wavering slightly he was already as fast as Robotnik himself when jogging.

'Wow, those are some pretty impressive racing feet you have there,' he complimented, watching as the baby almost ran headlong into a table leg.

'When I gro' up, I gonna be the fastes' person!' he shouted, this time slamming into a wall. A second passed, and then he started bawling, sitting on the ground with a bewildered look. Robotnik scooped him up, and took him to a spare room in his house which was generally there for a storeroom or second study. He took some pillows from the cupboard, and laid them on the ground in a squishy, soft bed. Taking some flannelette blankets, he draped them over the pillows before laying baby Sonic in them. It was then that he discovered the sharp quills on Sonic's back that would wreak so much destruction in years to come. He had cut his fingertip on one as he laid the baby to sleep. _I have a feeling that you are going to be a valuable ally in my quest when you grow up, little one._

X-X-X

_**Four years later…**_

Sonic's arms were stretched out behind him, and his eyes were focused on his feet. His father was beside him, watching intently at the treadmill's speedometer.

'Five hundred miles per hour! Keep on going, Sonic!' the scientist urged, taking notes down. The hedgehog smiled, before concentrating on breaking through the barrier his body was setting. _Just a little faster…_ He could feel sweat breaking out on his forehead, and he could barely breathe.

'Ca' I…stop now?' he asked breathlessly, already slowing down.

'No. You went this fast yesterday. Just ten more miles should do it,' the doctor replied, increasing the oxygen level in the room. Sonic growled softly, forcing himself to work harder. The treadmill beeped as he reached a total speed of five hundred and ten miles per hour. Sonic abruptly stopped, shooting backwards and collapsing on the ground. As soon as he hit the ground, Robotnik was already there, offering a quarter of a glass of water and holding a mass of equipment in his arms.

Sonic looked tiredly at the equipment. 'Do I…have to get tested?'

Robotnik folded his arms. 'Yes, Sonic. You ask this every time and it's the same answer.'

'Bu' it hurts!' the young hedgehog protested, still panting after gulping down the water.

'I don't CARE if it hurts, I'm your father and you will do what I say!' Robotnik half-shouted, raising his hand to the child as if to hit him. Sonic cowered back, before offering his arm.

'O-Okay.'

Robotnik prepared a syringe, before taking a sample of Sonic's blood. He attached a pulse monitor and took Sonic's blood pressure, before going to analyse the results.

'When ca' I take a run?' Sonic asked, rubbing his arm vigorously.

'In an hour. I want to monitor you to see how you're doing.'

Sonic groaned at this, cursing under his breath. 'Is it alrigh' if I go to visit the animals today?'

'No. You're not going for a leisure run; you're going to train again.'

Sonic's spirits sunk to unbelievable proportions. 'Why?' he asked, slightly bewildered. 'I was a' it all day.'

'I analysed these results, and you're not pushing yourself enough. Your heart rate is nowhere near a speed that would make you as tired as you pretend to be, and your oxygen levels aren't as high as they would be if you had been pushing your limits. You are going to break the sound barrier, and you are going to do it today.'

As much as Sonic hated to admit it, he couldn't do it. He had felt that if he tried any harder, he would collapse. But Sonic trusted his father, and he knew that if he said he could go harder, then Sonic could. There was also the fact of his competitive spirit. It would not let him lose.

While Sonic fetched himself another glass of water, Robotnik sat back down on the couch. _I know that kid can't bear to lose out. If I tell him he can go faster, then he'll try, even if what I told him wasn't true. _A small voice was nagging at the back of his head, telling him that he was being cruel. Robotnik pushed it away, reminding himself of his goal. _Those Chaos Emeralds…if I can just have them. I'll make this world a better place, and Sonic will help me! I just need him to be more powerful! I can't wait another four years just to see him break the sound barrier. _The voice returned. _He's only six, you know…_ Once again, Robotnik had an answer. _I don't care how young he is! He should be old enough to reach his full potential. Just because he's a kid doesn't mean that he can expect to be treated with any less expectations than if he were an adult! _

XXX

Sonic flipped through the pages of his manga novel. It was in easy Japanese – a language he was trying to teach himself along with English. He would while away the hours when he was being monitored teaching himself languages and other useful things like mathematics, and if he was feeling well enough he would teach himself other hobbies, such as sport, break dancing, and playing guitar. But more than anything else, he loved video games. A call aroused him from the worlds that lay within the pages.

'Sonic! Supper time!'

He jumped out of his bed, throwing the book down onto the ground and speeding down the stairs to the dinner table. 'Ohboyohboyohboy!' He banged the cutlery down on the table, before a small plate appeared with only two rolls of sushi.

'Wha'? Not even a chilli dog?' Sonic said, disappointed.

'It's only a late lunch, and you're a bit chubby. You need to get thinner if you ever want to help me.'

'Daddy…what's your job?'

Robotnik chuckled. 'Well, I'm a scientist. I make discoveries about the world to help people.'

'Wha' am I here for?' Sonic asked, nibbling on the seaweed.

'You're going to help me with my quest.'

'Wha's that?'

'I'll tell you when you're ready, Sonic.'

Sonic nodded, looking at the food curiously, before inhaling it. He trotted over to the sink, dumping the plate, and took the phone in his hand before speeding to his room. He closed the door behind him, then dialled one of his friends.

'Hey, Sonic!'

'Hi, Flicky!'

'How's things?'

Sonic frowned. 'I've been training really hard today. How was that school thing?'

'It was alright. What training did you do?'

'I had to run twice today, and then Dad go' really mad.'

Sonic could hear an exhale on the other end of the line. 'What did he say?'

'Well, I didn't wan' him to take any blood 'cause it hurts, and then he got really mad and said he didn't care if it hurt and than I had to do what he said and I thought he was gonna hit me.'

'Well, mum told me that no matter how nice someone is, if they hurt you they're bad.'

Sonic felt a stab of emotion somewhere deep in his heart. 'Bu' Dad loves me! He'd never hurt me! He jus' got a little mad, that's all.'

'Whatever you say. Anyway, I have to go, Sonic.'

And with that, Flicky hung up. Sonic spent ten minutes sitting down, thinking about what she'd said. _But Dad didn't hurt me! He loves me and he wants to help!_

'Sonic! It's time for you to train again!'

The hedgehog plodded down the stairs, for once trying to be as slow as possible. As soon as his small face poked around the corner, Robotnik motioned to the treadmill. Sonic reluctantly walked on, taking a gulp of water from a glass next to him. He started off at a jog, gradually building up to a faster speed. Sonic glanced up to check his speed – 306 mph. Soon, he reached his previous record at five hundred miles per hour and he was starting to feel it.

'Come on, Sonic! Remember what I said! I don't want to see you slacking off.'

Sonic wanted to tell him that he was trying his hardest, but all his energy was focused on running. He thought of what he was doing this for. _I'm gonna help dad! _Finally, he looked up to see the speedometer on 659 mph, and climbing. But he was tired as heck, and slowing down. Robotnik saw this.

'Sonic, if you don't break that sound barrier RIGHT NOW you'll wish you'd never been born!' His father screamed at him, a malicious edge to his voice. Adrenaline surged through Sonic's body, boosting him forwards in fear. Yet the effort was too much, and just as the speedometer clocked 734 mph his legs collapsed out from under him. He flew backwards off the treadmill, and lay on the ground out cold.

Robotnik turned to leave the hedgehog on the ground, but then he caught sight of him. His eyes were not quite closed, and even through the slits remaining he could see them wide in fear. Sonic's chest was rising and falling at an alarming rate, and he twitched occasionally. Robotnik's better nature shone through, and he draped a blanket over Sonic before retreating to his own bed.

**-**

_Sonic the Hedgehog, Dr. Ivo Robotnik, and Flicky are all property of SEGA. Writing is copyright Ember Rock 2007._


End file.
